Trench by Twenty One Pilots Album Review: Repeat or Skip?

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If you aren’t living under a rock, you’ve most likely heard of the alternative rock duo, “Twenty One Pilots.” With them having their hits “Stressed Out” and “Ride” played on the radio constantly, even after three years, and their infamous Grammy speech, it’s almost impossible for you to not have heard their name at least once. After coming out of a more than a year long hiatus, and releasing their new album “Trench,” you’re going to be hearing about them even more.

Fans have anxiously counted down the days until the duo would make a reappearance, and on July 11, their prayers were answered. The music video for Jumpsuit was posted on YouTube, and on the same day, the next single’s audio, Nico and the Niners, was released.

These songs were an introduction to the world and emotions Tyler Joseph, lead singer and songwriter of Twenty One Pilots, had been creating during his hiding, and fans were quick to greet the band’s debut.

“In the first 24 hours that the video [Jumpsuit] was posted on YouTube, it quickly earned #1 trending status and received an estimated 5.2 million plays within the first 24 hours!” Alt 105.7 says. According to Alt 105.7, this broke their previously held record of most hits in 24 hours held by their track “Heathens”, which had 3.5 million views upon release.

After two more music video releases and two new singles, fans hungrily waited for October 5th. On this day, Trench would be released, along with another music video. Fans flocked to music stores and music streaming services to get a listen of the long-waited new music, buying about 175,000 copies within the first week, according to Billboard. In turn, Trench debuted at number 2 in the Billboard 200.

Twenty One Pilots is known for tackling heavy topics in their music, such as suicide and depression, and Trench is no different. In this concept album, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, drummer of the duo, welcome fans to the world of DEMA (setting of the video), which fans speculate represents what Tyler’s mental health and demons. In the music videos, we realize that Tyler plays a character called “Clancy” who is trying to escape DEMA with a rebel group called Banditos.

The songs take us on a journey of struggles and hope, each one filled with a strong message that you don’t really find in a lot of music nowadays. Multiple songs (Neon Gravestones, Leave the City) bring attention to suicide and mental health, and shows us how the media likes to glorify those ideas.

Other songs remind us that there is a glimmer of hope in the world, even when things seem dark. These songs, The Hype, Cut My Lip, and My Blood, tell us that we should not give up and that we are not alone. Two other songs involve real life people in Tyler Joseph’s life. The first one is Smithereens, which is about Tyler’s wife, Jenna Joseph, and how he would fight someone “much bigger than him” for her. The second, Legend, is about his late grandfather who was alive during the writing of this song, but unfortunately passed away before it was finished in production.

BETA Newspaper wanted to see what individual fans thought about the long-waited album, and if they thought that Trench was as good as people made it seem, so one of our staff writers went out and interviewed two people who they knew were avid listeners of the duo.

Which song off the album is your favorite and why?

“My favorite song would probably be ‘My Blood’ because…Well, first of all, the bass is

really good and also the lyrics…the first time I heard it, I identified myself with it,” Nico Strom, 9th grade

“It would probably have to be ‘Legend’, because it’s a very…I don’t want to say tear-jerking, but it’s like a very emotional song, and I can kind of relate to it,” Erin Krska, 9th grade

Do you think Trench is one of their best albums yet, just like fans say? Why, or why not.

“Yeah, I definitely think that Trench is their best album yet because it…I think it combines all of the lyrical and sound stuff of all their past albums and only gets the good parts of it. For example, it’s kind of like one of their past albums Vessel, but a better version of it because Vessel is probably their second-best album,” Nico Strom, 9th grade

I think Trench is the best album in terms of how important it is for mental health and how much it talks about important issues, but personally I like Vessel more. I like Vessel first and Trench second, but Trench is still a really important album,” Erin Krska, 9th grade

Why do you think bands like Twenty One Pilots that speak out about heavy topics are important to have in the music industry?

“Because, well, I mean what they did in Trench is really smart because they turned into a more of a poppy beat to them, but they still talk about the same stuff, which means that they’ll probably get more radio play and they’ll spread their ideas and stuff that is really important. Like in one of the songs, Neon Gravestones, is telling us that we shouldn’t glorify people who take their own lives and how we should respect our elders and everything they’ve done in their lives,” Nico Strom, 9th grade

“I think it’s important that artists and celebrities that are popular and have a lot of influence over the youth, I think it’s very important for them to talk about issues because everyone sees them and they are considered heavily influencers of the youth,” Erin Krska, 9th grade

All in all, the album was very much worth the wait to fans. Trench is already being considered the band’s best music yet, and we can clearly tell why. The album brings forth the struggles of one human, but somehow can connect to many others and provide them with hope for the future. This album is beautifully blended with ideas and words that inspire not only the fandom, but everyone worldwide, to stay alive.

Trench is an album that you’re going to want to repeat, so it receives 4 out of 5 tornadoes.